Mental Health - What It’s Really Like To Get Hypnotherapy

It’s time to bust some myths! In the past 10 years, Hypnotherapy has transformed since the days of Paul McKenna and the TV stage ‘Hypnotism’ of the 90’s. There are no swinging pendulums or pocket watches.

In fact, Sports Hypnotherapy is currently part of the England Teams integrative approach to the performance wellbeing of the athletes. Most elite athletes will use hypnotherapy or mind’s eye visualisation as part of their mental skills training.

Hypnotherapy is also used in the NHS, recommended by NICE guidelines for the treatment of IBS. Prof Whorwell has been leading the Hypnotherapy frontiers at Wythenshawe hospital with great success for the past 20 years. His studies of imagining the gut as a river hypnotherapy reported a 71% success rate even after 5 years post-treatment.

As a TALKING therapy, hypnotherapy still can be misunderstood and has a long way to go to be considered mainstream, the vast majority of us have only been exposed to the idea of it through tv and other forms of media; whether that’s one of Darren Brown’s popular shows, or Paul Mckenna and his famous “I can make you thin” diet books.

However, there are a number of Modern Hypnotherapists leading the way to bring this very effective therapy and wellbeing support to this generation, athletes and performance in the workplace. Chloe Brotheridge, author of the Anxiety Solution, and our very own Ambassador Natalie Pennicotte Collier are two of the most successful and skilled modern Hypnotherapists in London and the wellbeing scene right now.

Going to a qualified, registered hypnotherapy practitioner session is actually very different to what the misconceptions would lead you to expect, it can be a great tool for treating a multitude of mental health issues as well as generally improving your wellness… lifelong phobias can be cured in only a few sessions and it is also very effective for managing Anxiety, Confidence and Self Esteem issues.

What is Modern Hypnotherapy

Drawing on recent discoveries and ideas from Evolutionary Psychology, Positive Psychology, Cognitive Theory and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, good therapists will have developed their own method, using modern hypnosis to provide a framework for therapy alongside CBT and MP3 recordings.

Hypnotherapy is the most effective therapy used to reprogram the subconscious mind, by putting you in a relaxed state that makes you more receptive to behavioural change or limiting beliefs ion your mind.

Your first session will usually involve a discussion with your therapist about any issues you’re having and what you would like to address. From this, they’ll work with you to come up with a treatment plan and will decide on the techniques that will be best for you.

Depending on the reason for therapy sessions can be between 1 – 6 sessions. All good therapists will consult and take time to understand your needs and adjusting the therapy to be highly personal to you. Sessions can be in clinic or by Skype and the therapist will analyse your language patterns beforehand requiring you to journal about your phobia, thought patterns or anxiety experience.

What It Feels Like

Hypnosis is very relaxing, allowing you to zone out from the usual noise inside your mind and giving you an increased sense of awareness, very similar to doing a really deep meditation.

It’s actually an everyday TRANCE. The therapist will then invite you into a very deep relaxation or ‘a state of hypnosis’ – we actually go into these natural trances all the time. When we daydream, drive, multitask or just get absorbed into our imagination. It might sound scary but it’s really just a state of HYPER awareness or focus. Most say it feels like the moment you are floating in a peaceful bubble just before you sleep or a very deep yoga nidra or meditation state. We know from contemporary neuroscience that in this state, different areas of the brain light up and become active.

You are completely free to move and talk at your will, always in control. Despite what you may have seen on TV, you won’t be made to do anything you don't want to, and your therapist will speak to you throughout, skilfully guiding you and placing agreed suggestions and language into your subconscious mind.

The experience, of course, is different for everyone, and the depth of the hypnotic trance will depend on your willingness to receive the language and not resist. Many people say that it helps answers come to them much more effortlessly than normal. Whatever happens, your mind will take you to whatever place it needs to go to make a lasting powerful change, harnessing the power of your own mind.

How It Can Help

Hypnotherapy can help with so many different things - anxiety, insomnia, appetite balancing, healing from trauma, confidence building or even stopping smoking.

As touched upon before, it does this by tapping into your unconscious mind, where it can plant new ideas and thoughts at a much deeper level. It puts your mind and body into a heightened state of learning, making you more susceptible to suggestions for self-improvement and giving your subconscious and conscious mind a greater sense of harmony.